Download or read book Smart Customers Stupid Companies written by Michael Hinshaw and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Why Smart People Do Dumb Things written by Mortimer R. Feinberg and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 1995-04-26 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Culled from business headlines and corporate files, Why Smart People Do Dumb Things is an in-depth examination of the ultimate in boardroom breakdown--a postmortem of the mega-mistakes made by highly regarded leaders in business and public life. From the "New Coke" debacle to the poor subscription showing of the Olympic Triplecast to the swirling controversy of Whitewater, Feinberg describes how strong minds can misuse their power, and why bright people often seize upon--and advocate brilliantly--ideas that others recognize as ridiculous.
Download or read book How Excellent Companies Avoid Dumb Things written by Neil Smith and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2012-06-05 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every day, seemingly intelligent and successful companies make headline news for poor decisions that can cause their business to stumble and make many of us scratch our heads in wonder. Why would such a successful business make "that" strategic decision? Neil Smith, with more than 20 years of experience leading large-scale performance improvements, reveals the hidden barriers that limit excellent companies from reaching their potential, and cause even the smartest managers and leaders to falter. During his experience transforming some of the top global businesses, Smith has identified 8 barriers that exist in every organization and prevent them from implementing literally thousands of ideas to improve the way they work: Avoiding Controversy Poor Use of Time Reluctance to Change Organizational Silos Management Blockers Incorrect Information and Bad Assumptions Size Matters Existing Processes Rich with anecdotes and case studies, Smith identifies the ways in each of these barriers interrupt your own business. He then outlines a fast and proven process in which 12 principles of business transformation can break down the processes that hold companies back. What Smith offers his readers is the same thing he offers every day to the major companies he works with, A PROMISE that by following his insights, the company will be able to increase communication, simplicity, and profit to levels never before attainable. Throughout the book, Dr. Richard Levak has contributed personality and organizational insights that shed light on why an individual or an organization behaves in contrary ways giving you a better sense of why these internal walls exist and how to be aware of your actions in your day to day life.
Download or read book Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things written by Calvin L. Hodock and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2010-09-09 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Innovation is the lifeblood of American business. Without the creativity to find the next must-have product or service, companies quickly lose their competitive edge. Knowing this, corporate leaders invest heavily in research and development.Notwithstanding the dollars spent on R & D, the fact remains that better than 90 percent of innovation initiatives fail to achieve their return-on-investment targets. Poor management decisions and lack of marketplace savvy often undermine even huge research efforts. Can America continue to be a formidable global competitor with this kind of failure rate?Taking a case history approach, Calvin Hodock examines eight typical innovation blunders that continually doom new product development. From misjudging the market and dead-on-arrival products to fatal frugality and timetable tyranny, he discusses not only why such mistakes occur but also the dire consequences to both investors and employees. When Polaroid declared bankruptcy, because it missed the digital imaging trend, the company's employees lost their retirement and pension benefits. Now the failure of the American automobile industry to create gotta have cars threatens to wreak long-term havoc in a large segment of American workers.Among the problems Hodock points to are breakdowns in the marketing research process, marketing dishonesty, lack of real-world preparation among newly graduated MBAs, CEOs under pressure to deliver unrealistic earning targets, clueless boards of directors, and the general absence of accountability.After analyzing each problem, Hodock emphasizes the lesson learned and concludes with a list of best practices for successful innovation. He shows how even modest improvements in the innovation process can double the bottom line for any company while making their shareholders more prosperous and happier.Hodock's incisive analysis and illuminating new approaches to successful development and marketing are must reading for students of business, seasoned corporate executives, and anyone interested in the future of American business.Calvin L. Hodock (Skillman, NJ) is professor of marketing at Berkeley College, Garret Mountain and Middlesex Campuses, an adjunct professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, and a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. He is the former chairman of the board of the American Marketing Association, the world's largest professional marketing society. He is also on the board of directors for NuVim, Inc. He has previously published for the American Marketing Association, McGraw-Hill, and the Advertising Research Foundation.
Download or read book The Knowing doing Gap written by Jeffrey Pfeffer and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The market for business knowledge is booming as companies looking to improve their performance pour millions of pounds into training programmes, consultants, and executive education. Why then, are there so many gaps between what firms know they should do and waht they actual do? This volume confronts the challenge of turning knowledge about how to improve performance into actions that produce measurable results. The authors identify the causes of this gap and explain how to close it.
Download or read book The Dumb Things Smart People Do with Their Money written by Jill Schlesinger and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You’re smart. So don’t be dumb about money. Pinpoint your biggest money blind spots and take control of your finances with these tools from CBS News Business Analyst and host of the nationally syndicated radio show Jill on Money, Jill Schlesinger. “A must-read . . . This straightforward and pleasingly opinionated book may persuade more of us to think about financial planning.”—Financial Times Hey you . . . you saw the title. You get the deal. You’re smart. You’ve made a few dollars. You’ve done what the financial books and websites tell you to do. So why isn’t it working? Maybe emotions and expectations are getting in the way of good sense—or you’re paying attention to the wrong people. If you’ve started counting your lattes, for god’s sake, just stop. Read this book instead. After decades of working as a Wall Street trader, investment adviser, and money expert for CBS News, Jill Schlesinger reveals thirteen costly mistakes you may be making right now with your money. Drawing on personal stories and a hefty dose of humor, Schlesinger argues that even the brightest people can behave like financial dumb-asses because of emotional blind spots. So if you’ve saved for college for your kids before saving for retirement, or you’ve avoided drafting a will, this is the book for you. By following Schlesinger’s rules about retirement, college financing, insurance, real estate, and more, you can save money and avoid countless sleepless nights. It could be the smartest investment you make all year. Praise for The Dumb Things Smart People Do with Their Money “Common sense is not always common, especially when it comes to managing your money. Consider Jill Schlesinger’s book your guide to all the things you should know about money but were never taught. After reading it, you’ll be smarter, wiser, and maybe even wealthier.”—Chris Guillebeau, author of Side Hustle and The $100 Startup “A must-read, whether you’re digging yourself out of a financial hole or stacking up savings for the future, The Dumb Things Smart People Do with Their Money is a personal finance gold mine loaded with smart financial nuggets delivered in Schlesinger’s straight-talking, judgment-free style.”—Beth Kobliner, author of Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) and Get a Financial Life
Download or read book Simplicity Marketing written by Steven M. Cristol and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-03-11 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than half a century, marketers have bombarded customers with more and more choices in products and services. What is the result? Unprecedented anxiety. Our mental circuit breakers are on overload. In fact, pioneering brand strategists Steven M. Cristol and Peter Sealey assert that we have reached our manageable threshold for making decisions -- and a watershed in product proliferation. In this pathbreaking book, the authors argue with compelling evidence that the next generation of marketing successes will belong to those brands that simplify customers' lives or businesses in ways that are inextricably tied to brand and product positioning. They contend that if a brand is not reducing customer stress, it is creating it -- and it is vulnerable to losing market share to more customer-empathetic competitors. Writing especially for product or brand managers who are struggling to simplify their portfolios, Cristol and Sealey have created a breakthrough framework that is itself a lesson in simplicity. After presenting two essential guideposts for managers to assess where their brand sits on the stress spectrum, the authors turn to the heart of Simplicity Marketing -- the 4 R's of simplification: Replace, Repackage, Reposition, and Replenish. Using scores of real-world company examples, Cristol and Sealey show how each of the 4 R's interacts with the others in powerful ways to relieve customer stress and how these strategies may be executed individually or in combination to build brand loyalty. Here for the first time are ten specific strategies to relieve customer stress through consolidating, aggregating, or integrating products and services, repositioning brands for more relevance to stress reduction, and decluttering customers' decision-making requirements. The final pages of this brilliant manifesto for a simplicity revolution provide a guide to managing simplicity strategies, leveraging information technology to simplify rather than complicate customers' lives, and integrating all the tools in the book into an executional blueprint.
Download or read book Think Smart Act Smart written by J. Nightingale and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-01-28 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise For Think Smart--Act Smart Avoiding the Business Mistakes That Even Intelligent People Make "Increased productivity and optimizing efficiencies...start with this book. Think Smart--Act Smart is a must-read for anyone concerned with the optimal operation of any organization...and all management personnel." --Travis AlexanderCEO, Alexander Worldwide Protection Services "This book should be mandatory reading for any of us in the leadership business. It exposes the fallacies of decision making that have become so endemic in organizations today. Jim's style of writing seamlessly translates sound theory into practical application--making it perfect for both the student and managerial practitioner. A welcomed addition to the decision-making literature." --Philip T. Anderson, PhDDirector, Organization Effectiveness, JohnsonDiversey, Inc. "Think Smart--Act Smart is a book that walks you through the 'how to' of thinking outside the box in your everyday approach to problem solving and how to avoid the old patterns buried in society's IQ-driven approach to problem solving. A very refreshing and mind-opening journey that shares a wonderful look into a number of startling truths about the way we think." --C. Brandy DouglasPresident, The Douglas Group, Inc. "Jim Nightingale provides a new and unique perspective on organizations today. The thesis of his books...is basic to working and managing in today's knowledge economy. Anyone who is responsible for making complex organizational decisions should benefit from this book." --Peter SorensenDirector, Organization Development PhD Program, Benedictine University, Illinois "We have all seen really smart, successful people do really dumb things. We have all asked the question, 'what was he/she thinking?' Jim Nightingale has taken an interesting, cerebral look at why this might be. His views are thought-provoking for those interested in getting the most out of their organization." --Spencer Clark IIIFormer Chief Learning Officer, Cadence Design Systems Why do smart people sometimes do such stupid things? In 1720 Isaac Newton lost a fortune in a stock market crash that he had personally predicted. How could this happen? Since the discoverer of gravity and the inventor of calculus can hardly be accused of stupidity, we must seek other reasons for this, and other, high-profile judgment errors by very smart people. Whether you are a CEO, a business manager, or simply a student of human behavior, Think Smart--Act Smart reveals why smart people make costly mistakes and provides you with a realistic plan to think smart in your life and on the job.
Download or read book The Road Less Stupid written by Keith J. Cunningham and published by . This book was released on 2017-10-31 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Idea Driven Organization written by Alan G. Robinson and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Examples from all over the world make it fun to read…convincingly demonstrate[s] the power of incorporating frontline thinking into your organization.” —Marshall Goldsmith, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Triggers Too many organizations overlook, or even suppress, their single most powerful source of growth and innovation—and it’s right under their noses. The frontline employees who interact directly with your customers, make your products, and provide your services have unparalleled insights into where problems exist and what improvements and new offerings would have the most impact. In this follow-up to their bestseller Ideas Are Free, Alan G. Robinson and Dean M. Schroeder show how to align every part of an organization around generating and implementing employee ideas and offer dozens of examples of what a tremendous competitive advantage this can offer—not just for revenue but for worker retention. Their advice enables leaders to build organizations capable of implementing twenty, fifty, or even a hundred ideas per employee per year. Citing organizations from around the world, they explain what’s needed to put together a management team that embraces grassroots ideas and describe the strategies, policies, and practices that enable them. They detail exactly how high-performing idea processes work and how to design one for your organization. There’s pressure today to do more with less. But cutting wages and benefits and pushing people to work harder with fewer resources can go only so far. Ironically, the best solution resides with the very people who’ve been bearing the brunt of these measures. With this book, you can unleash a constant stream of great ideas that will strengthen every facet of your organization.
Download or read book When Smart People Work for Dumb Bosses How to Survive in a Crazy and Dysfunctional Workplace written by William Lundin and published by McGraw-Hill. This book was released on 1999-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can smart people stay sane and productive when their bosses are toxic, rude, or just plain dumb? Solutions abound in this essential book written by William and Kathleen Lundin, featured on NPR's "Marketplace." 10 illustrations.
Download or read book Gonzo Marketing written by Christopher Locke and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2009-06-17 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ladies and gentlemen, please return your tray tables to the fully upright and locked position, suspend your disbelief and put on your tinfoil pyramid hats. We are now entering -- [cue lights, cue music] the Brand Dimension! Gonzo Marketing is a knuckle-whitening ride to the place where social criticism, biting satire, and serious commerce meet -- and where the outdated ideals of mass marketing and broadcast media are being left in the dust. As master of ceremonies at the wake for traditional one-size-fits-all marketing, Locke has assembled a unique guest list, from Geoffrey Chaucer to Hunter S. Thompson, to guide us through the revolution that is rocking business today, as people connect on the Web to form powerful micromarkets. These networked communities, based on candor, trust, passion, and a general disdain for anything that smacks of corporate smugness, reflect much deeper trends in our culture, which Locke illuminates with his characteristic wit. Just as gonzo journalism arose in response to "objective" news standards that claimed to foster fairness but in practice discouraged writers from speaking their minds in their own voices, so too does gonzo marketing call for a similar response to assumptions about consumer behavior that no longer relate to how people actually live their lives. Gonzo Marketing is not yet-another nostrum for hoodwinking the unwary. It's about market advocacy. It describes how "the artist formerly known as advertising" must do a 180. It's about transforming the marketing message from "we want your money" to "we share your interests." It's about tapping into, listening to, and even forming alliances with emerging on-line markets, who probably know more about your company than you do. It's a hip-hop cover of boring old best practices played backwards. The paradox is that companies that support and promote these communities can have everything they've always wanted: greater market share, customer loyalty, brand equity. Irreverent, penetrating, profoundly simple, and on-the-money, Gonzo Marketing is the raucous wake-up that no one interested in any aspect of twenty-first century business-from the trading floor right up to the boardroom-can afford to ignore.
Download or read book In Search of Stupidity written by Merrill R. Chapman and published by . This book was released on 2003-07-08 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes influential business philosophies and marketing ideas from the past twenty years and examines why they did not work.
Download or read book Blind Spots written by Madeleine L. Van Hecke and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2009-12-02 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Psychologist Van Hecke argues that much of what we label stupidity can better be explained as blind spots. Full of funny, poignant stories about human foibles, "Blind Spots" offers many insights for improving our social and political lives.
Download or read book Avoiding Critical Marketing Errors How to Go from Dumb to Smart Marketing written by Richard D. Czerniawski and published by . This book was released on 2019-09-09 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tackles critical marketing errors, both of omission and commission, that not only lead to underperformance but threaten marketing relevance and brand survival. Importantly, it addresses what all marketers and their organizations need to do to achieve smart marketing so it matters more.
Download or read book Good to Great written by Jim Collins and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2001-10-16 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Challenge Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning. But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? The Study For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great? The Standards Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck. The Comparisons The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good? Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't. The Findings The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include: Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness. The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology. The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap. “Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.” Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?
Download or read book Hooked on Customers written by Robert G. Thompson and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Talk is cheap." A cliché, perhaps, but the idea that what we do is more important than what we say is a fundamental truth. It applies in our personal lives and can extend into our professional work, too. Learning to let your actions do the talking can be revolutionary to a company that struggles to create enduring customer relationships. People who own operate, manage, or otherwise lead a company are always looking for ways to improve productivity, beat the competition, and ensure long-term success. Learning how to put words and ideas into action can be a key to success in the business world. Hooked on Customers is not about finding the right words, whether labeled as a "strategy" or not. It is an insightful, highly informative book that propels businesses into action. It explores successful customer-centric businesses, examines the ways they execute their strategies, and provides practical recommendations for business leaders to more effectively outperform their competition. A must-have for any business leader who wants to have a healthy relationship with customers, this book avoids the pitfalls that often plague others that offer business advice. Frequently, company leaders turn to consultants and other resources to recommend strategies that sound great but ultimately don't have any real meaning because they are a series of words without a tie to actions. Combining his own professional experiences working as a CEO with his extensive research and expertise as an international authority on customer-centricity, author Robert Thompson has identified the five routine organizational habits successful customer-centric businesses use when executing strategy. Legendary leading customer-centric businesses: LISTEN to their customers' values and feedback. THINK about the implications of fact-based decisions on customers EMPOWER employees with the freedom they need to please customers CREATE new value for customers, without being asked DELIGHT customers by exceeding their expectations Crucial to Thompson's discussion of these habits is the premise that there are no quick fixes. Customer-centricity takes time, determination, and company-wide commitment. It must be maintained and constantly pursued to ensure that it becomes part of the fabric of a business. In the end, the results are well worth it. Hooked on Customers helps leaders understand, adopt, and implement the five crucial habits that enable companies to not only survive in highly competitive, overcrowded markets but to dominate them, creating a legacy of success and inspiration along the way.
